Young Love
by Tygra's Kitten Hina
Summary: Bengali misses Pumyra and Cheetara tries to cheer him up. BenChee (BengalixCheetara) friendship fanfic. Contains hints of TyChee and BenMyra (BengalixPumyra). Bengali and Cheetara centered. Rated for slight swearing.


_Disclaimer: I don't Thundercats. Thundercats belong to Warner Brothers. All I own is this plot._

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Young Love

He sat there. His blue eyes were glued to contents that littered his workshop bench and counter. His clawed hands tapped against the counter top repeatedly, the tips of his claws clicking against the metal surface. Through the light of the flickering lights above him, Bengali could see the a map of Third Earth spread out before him and on either side of the map were his beloved Hammer of Thundera and the remnants of the Sword of Omens. The sword had been broken in half by the Lunataks – mainly by Tug Mug. It was up to Bengali to fix it.

His eyebrow furrowed in concentration as he studied the map carefully. He would have to use some Thundrillium and a few other alloys to breathe life back into the Sword.

_Every time Lord Lion-O gets into a skirmish with Tug Mug alone, he ends up breaking this damned Sword. You'd think he'd be a little more careful. _The young tiger thought a bit bitterly, but he regretted thinking ill of his young Lord and leader. Lion-O was young and still maturing – actually he's pretty mature by now, it's just that Lion-O has a reckless and an impetuous streak about him, and it always leads the lion into trouble. _Maybe if I use Adamantium or Diamond for the blade, the sword won't break as easily…?_

Bengali let out another sigh, running his free hand through his black and white mane. It was always hard being a Blacksmith. He's just lucky that Lion-O doesn't break the Sword of Omens on a daily basis or else all the Thundercats would be royally screwed. It always takes Bengali at least two or three days to fix the sword – one day to gather all the necessary materials and a day and a half (two at the most) to do the actual repairs to the Sword. It was always tiring work. But lucky for Bengali, he has full access to all the mines across Third Earth and the residents of the Third Earth would rather have the Thundercats protecting them then the Lunataks or the Mutants.

Bengali nearly jumped at hearing the door to the work shop opening and the white tiger looked up in time to see Cheetara coming in with a tray of snacks and a small tea pot and some cups.

"How're the repairs going, Bengali?" Cheetara asked, walking up to his side. She gently placed the tray of tea and snacks onto an empty spot on Bengali's work bench before beginning to pour the tea. He just shrugged a bit. His light blue gaze watched as the Cheetah lifted hand and reached over for the tea pot. It was almost hard to believe that these same gentle hands were the strong hands that wielded Cheetara's favorite retractable and extendable Bo Staff. He could see every muscle in her arms flexing at bit under the white fluorescent lights of the work shop, as she busied herself with pouring them some tea. Bengali had to admit, Cheetara was beautiful, and strong, too, but his heart belongs to Pumyra – not the beautiful Cat before him. Just as Pumyra was his, Cheetara belonged to Tygra.

Bengali felt his heart leap with worry as he remembered the reason Cheetara was actually staying at the Tower of Omens in the first place. Pumyra had fallen ill thanks to Chilla's frosty breath and she was taken to the Cats' Lair for Snarf to take care of her while Cheetara and Wilykit came came to the Tower of Omens to take up the Puma's duties for awhile. It was to ensure that the Tower of Omens was fully protected as Lion-O had said.

_But Pumyra could've easily recovered here as she could at Cats' Lair. _Bengali really missed his female companion. Sure Cheetara was nice and quite the social butterfly, but he connected better with Pumyra on an emotional level. Pumyra was the only one who could understand his frustrations and what he really means to say. She was never quick to judge him as the others do. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Bengali saw Cheetara smiling at him. Her orange eyes were full of concern for him as she held out a cup of tea to him.

"Don't worry, Bengali. Pumyra will be fine. She'll be back here in no time at all. Tygra and the others don't want risk her getting another cold chill should the Lunataks attack the Tower again." She said softly. It was almost as though the Cheetah had read his mind, or maybe she sensed the worry he had for Pumyra. Her words still did nothing to quell his unease. He didn't like how Pumyra was transferred to the Cats' Lair. All the medicines they would need to help Pumyra recover was in the Puma's work room.

"If you say so, Cheetara." Bengali mumbled, taking the cup of hot tea before turning back to the work bench. The Tiger's reclusive action made her frown. It was so unlike Bengali to be so unfriendly.

Cheetara sat down beside Bengali on the bench and placed a hand on his shoulder, but she frowned again at seeing how unresponsive Bengali was to her concern. It seemed like the younger Thundercat just kept to himself whenever Pumyra wasn't with him. Normally, Cheetara would ignore it and mounted it up to Bengali wanting to focus on his personal endeavors, but this latest attack had shaken him up. She could sense the suppressed anger Bengali was holding in. Bengali fought tooth and nail to keep Pumyra in the Tower of Omens; Lynx-O and Tygra had to restrain him as Lion-O carried the young Puma to the Thundertank.

"Is everything alright, Bengali?" Cheetara's tone was soft as she asked this, but Bengali just ignored her again. She watched him pick up the base of the Sword of Omens, pretending to examine it. The Eye did nothing. It remained in its nearly dead dormant state. The Cat woman crossed her arms. Her lips twisted into another frown. Something was obviously wrong with her friend and she wanted to know what, but he wasn't willing to talk.

The two of them sat there in the silence of the dim room, neither one saying a word. Bengali was the only one making any noise at all, shuffling his tools around and fiddling with some of the minerals from the Sword of Omens. Cheetara just kept watch over him, her worries for the male cat increasing as time passed. There was some kind of air of resentment hanging over Bengali. There was only one other person who had this kind of air about him and that was Tygra. But she knew she couldn't help Bengali break from the dark mood. Only the person Bengali loved most could break him from it. She felt her eyebrows furrow as she went into thought, her orange eyes remaining on the youth beside her.

_Maybe if I could get Bengali to come with me to the Cats' Lair, he could see that Pumyra will be just fine… _she thought. Her train of thought shattered at hearing a frustrated growl from her friend and she blinked, looking at Bengali again. The tiger was nursing a finger that he hurt. A small sliver of blood appeared on the base of Bengali's thumb. His blue eyes were narrowed, glaring at the red line filling with blood. She rose to her feet and walked over to the little first aid station at the entrance to his room, only to return with the kit itself.

Bengali's blue gaze flickered to the female Thundercat, narrowing as he glowered at her. He held quickly pulled his hand away when Cheetara reached for it. "I'm not a child, Cheetara." He said in a harsh tone. He didn't mean to be rude with the Thunderian Noble, but if Cheetara were to start tending to his thumb in the same manner as his beloved Pumyra, then he may betray his love for Pumyra and become close with Cheetara. He didn't want that. He didn't want to give into the loneliness that surface in Pumyra's absence.

He saw Cheetara roll her eyes and shake her head as she reached her hand out again. Bengali bared his teeth at the Cheetah, but the growl that had built itself in the back of his throat died off before it could be released. It was quickly replaced by a soft gasp resulting from her fingers gently brushing against the palm of his hand as she took his hand into hers.

His heart rate sped up some as Cheetara reached with her free hand for a cotton swab. All the muscles in Bengali's body relaxed as she gently dabbed at the small cut on his finger, wiping away the blood. He had to keep himself from pulling his hand away again as a stinging sensation filled the cut on his thumb from the gel Cheetara placed over. But it was all over within a few seconds and Bengali soon saw a small band aide over the cut and he released the breath he didn't know he had as Cheetara dropped his hand.

"T-thanks, Cheetara." The Tiger stuttered, feeling his cheeks growing hot. His heart was still beating fast in his chest. Although Cheetara's touches weren't purposefully sensual, he could still feel the softness of her fingers against his palms, her claws barely scraping his fur. It made his heart ache for Pumyra.

Cheetara flashed him a smile, her lips falling back to reveal her beautiful smile. "You're welcome, Bengali." She said softly. The smile faded as they quickly fell into another silent spell. Cheetara watched him go back to working on the Sword. Again, Bengali withdrew into himself. But she was determined to get through to him, or at least to help him. "You know, Bengali, I was thinking…"

Bengali saw Cheetara just within his line of vision. The Cheetah brushed back her spotted blonde hair out of her eyes as she bit her lip. She was trying to piece her thoughts together. Not that anything she had to say was going to ease his nerves. Bengali didn't want her kindness. He didn't want to risk falling out of love with Pumyra. He loves Pumyra. He's known the brown haired Thundercat since they were cubs. It was her who inspired him to go into the Blacksmith trade, just as he had inspired her to go into the Healing Profession. She—

"Would you like to see Pumyra?" again, Cheetara's words broke through his train of thought and Bengali found himself looking at the woman again. She saw his blue eyes lighting up with happiness. At least that got his attention. But he still seemed a bit confused. "We can go see Pumyra if you want."

Again, his heart leapt. A wave of happiness washed over Bengali and the tiger quickly shot to his feet, not caring that he dropped his tools in the process. "Are you sure we can do that, Cheetara? I mean Lord Lion-O did order us to stay here." He said, unaware of how rushed and tongue tied he seemed. He didn't care. He wanted to see his love. He didn't want pass up this opportunity to see her. It was only a week ago that he saw her, but it felt like an eternity to him.

Cheetara laughed and smiled warmly at him, her bracelets jingling a bit as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Of course. Lynx-O received a call from Tygra early this morning that she was better. She'll be able to come back to the Tower of Omens within another day or two."

Seeing happiness return to Bengali's face made Cheetara's heart melt. It reminded her of when she and Tygra had first started courting each other. Tygra was just as shy and awkward as Bengali was with Pumyra. It was cute and endearing.

"When can we leave?" Bengali blurted. His tone sounded more cheerful, almost picking up its usual happiness. Her eyebrows furrowed again. So, that's why he was moping. He loved her. Cheetara's smile grew.

"We can leave now if you want." No sooner than she said this, then Bengali was out the door and on his way to the hangars where the Thunderstrike was kept. Cheetara chuckled, feeling her heart melting with endearment. How she missed the days of when Tygra acted this way with her. Actually he still did, but he was more relaxed around her now that they were an official couple. Smiling, Cheetara walked off, following after Bengali.

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**Guardian of Omens: **This is my first attempt at a Bengali and Cheetara friendship fic that lightly touches the line between romance and friendship. Thanks for reading, everyone. :)


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